The Football Association has ‘agreed in principle’ to introduce a Premier League winter break from the 2019/2020 campaign, according to reports.

Newcastle United played a sixth of their games over a 22-day period during the festive schedule, so hectic is the current Premier League schedule from late-December through until early-January.

Managers such as Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp have repeatedly called for a winter break to be introduced in England - Germany, France, Spain and Italy all enjoy time off mid-season - while Rafa Benitez is also likely to be receptive to the idea.

According to The Times, the FA has reached an agreement in principle with both the Premier League and the EFL for an annual two-week break to be factored into the English top-flight football schedule from 2019/2020 onwards.

Every Premier League club will be given at least 13 days without a competitive match, though not every team will enjoy their winter break at the same time - with one round of top-flight fixtures instead split equally over two consecutive weekends.

That will ensure there is no complete break from Premier League football for a two-week period, while also introducing a fortnight’s rest for all 20 clubs. In fact, under the proposals the Premier League would actually gain a weekend - when the FA Cup fifth round has traditionally been held - even if only half of the top-flight clubs will be in action.

It is claimed this will prove more attractive to broadcasters, who usually recoup larger audiences at weekends.

Initially, it had been suggested that any English winter break would take place in mid-January - but the current proposal shifts the hiatus until later in the season.

According to the report, the FA Cup fifth round would be played in midweek and there would be no replays for that stage of the competition.

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However, the winter break will not apply in the EFL, with the respective 46-game schedules for the Championship, League One and League Two largely unaffected - the removal of FA Cup fifth-round weekend aside.

The EFL Cup will also retain its two-legged semi-finals under the current plans, too, despite earlier calls for the final-four matches to be made one-off affairs.

Earlier this month, the Premier League confirmed that it was in talks with English football’s other governing bodies about exploring the possibility of introducing a winter break.

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In a statement, the Premier League said: “The Premier League has been in discussions with the FA and EFL for several months regarding the challenges of the increasingly-congested English football calendar and ways in which we can work together to ease fixture congestion while also giving players a mid-season break.

“Provided space can be found in the calendar, we are open to this in principle and will continue constructive discussions with our football stakeholders to seek a workable solution.”